Food for Thought

Foods that had relish were once highly desirable. That no longer seems to be true today, hinting at our changing tastes.

Why people at any point in history may have considered a particular combination of food and drink as pairing especially well is likely due to reasons of food culture (including social and economic factors), more than the underlying food chemistry.

More than simply a site for cookery, the kitchen has been home to scientific endeavour, empiricist knowledge, political expressionism, and touristic spectacles of architecture, design and technology. Writing about the kitchen is thus a powerful tool for communicating wider discourses.

Contemporary food scientists may find inspiration, just as, over the centuries, various writers and painters have, in the delicious, multisensory complexity of a ripe peach.

The starchy staples of West African cooking have significance beyond nutrition and satiety. In Ghana, fufu, tzed and banku are associated with regional and cultural identity, and the preparation and consumption of the ‘proper meal’ with social roles.

Over the past two millennia, dietary transitions among foragers in southern Africa have impacted their height, family size, disease rates, and nutrition. The shift to a sedentary life has brought with it a range of health and social issues. Yet, foraging remains important for food security and has unique cultural value.

Popular ideas about the Mediterranean diet are reviewed and questioned with respect to regional data on food intake and cultural diversity. With the UNESCO declaration of the Mediterranean diet as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, a far more holistic approach to food habits and environmental patterns has been developed.

Globalization transforms societies, economies and cultures. As a subject, food allows us to draw unique narratives on these transformations . The history of pie and mash, also known as the ‘Londoner’s meal’, is such a story of globalization.